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It looks more and more like China might beat NASA back to the moon. If all goes according to the re-re-revised plan, Boeing's troubled Starliner space capsule will undock from the International Space Station on Friday afternoon and make an automated return to Earth, unmanned. Meanwhile, debate continues at NASA over how to proceed with the Artemis program to get us back to the moon — almost two full years after the Artemis I flight test returned safely to Earth but with the Orion capsule's heat shield showing unexpected wear and tear. "This will be an even higher-profile decision for...

Look up and celebrate both the wonders of the moon and humanity's achievements in space exploration.When you look up this weekend you will see not only a striking full moon but also a piece of history. In a rare celestial coincidence, July's full moon will share the spotlight with the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, providing a unique opportunity to reflect on humanity's achievements in space exploration and our enduring fascination with our closest neighbor. The July full moon officially occurs on July 21 at 6:17 a.m. EDT (1017 GMT), but the moon will still appear full...

The new spacesuit design (illustrated) that collects urine and recycles it into drinking water weighs around 8 kilograms and can purify half a liter of water in five minutes. ================================================================ In the science-fiction series Dune, the desert-dwelling Fremen of the arid planet Arrakis recycle their body’s moisture using specially designed outfits called stillsuits. Inspired by such imaginings, a new prototype spacesuit converts astronauts’ urine into drinkable water, researchers report July 12 in Frontiers in Space Technology. “I’ve been a fan of the Dune series for as long as I can remember,” says Sofia Etlin, a space medicine and policy researcher...

On Tuesday, the WSJ reported that a lunar capsule carrying the first rock samples from the far side of the Moon had touched down on Earth, marking a significant milestone in space exploration. But, unlike the pioneering missions of the space race of decades past, this cutting-edge endeavor wasn’t masterminded by the US or Russia, but by China.Space Race 2.0China's lunar ambitions have been growing steadily since its Chang'e 1 lunar orbit mission in 2007, with NASA data revealing that the country has now made 9 missions to the Moon. But, collecting rocks is just one small step in China’s...

China has become the first country to gather samples from the far side of the moon and bring them back to Earth in a landmark achievement for the Beijing space programme. A re-entry capsule containing the precious cargo parachuted into a landing zone in the rural Siziwang Banner region of Inner Mongolia on Tuesday after being released into Earth’s orbit by the uncrewed Chang’e-6 probe....The mission’s lander spent two days collecting rock and soil from one of the oldest and largest craters on the moon, the 1,600-mile-wide South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin...

Join Elon Musk for a tour inside SpaceX's Starbase and the brand new Starfactory. This video was shot the day before Flight 4, on June 5th, 2024.00:00 - Intro00:28 - Interview Starts10:12 - Starships in Highbay21:24 - Manufacturing talk23:50 - Reusability27:00 - Ice / Thruster talk31:30 - Megabay41:15 - Raptors49:07 - Inside Starfactory1:03:03 - OutroFirst Look Inside SpaceX's Starfactory w/ Elon Musk | 1:04:17 | Everyday Astronaut | 1.59M subscribers | 621,461 views | June 22, 2024

China’s Chang’e-6 Moon mission was launched on May 3. It reached lunar orbit a few days later and began waiting for sunrise over its landing site on the Moon’s far side. Chang’e-6 is named after the Chinese goddess of the Moon and it will land on Sunday in a crater called Apollo — an ancient double-ringed walled plain caused by an asteroid smashing into the young Moon. Apollo has been heavily damaged by subsequent impacts and in many places covered with lava flows and sprinkled with particles from newer impacts. It is as Buzz Aldrin said, a magnificent desolation. It...

Explanation: No one, presently, sees the Moon rotate like this. That's because the Earth's moon is tidally locked to the Earth, showing us only one side. Given modern digital technology, however, combined with many detailed images returned by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a high resolution virtual Moon rotation movie has been composed. The featured time-lapse video starts with the standard Earth view of the Moon. Quickly, though, Mare Orientale, a large crater with a dark center that is difficult to see from the Earth, rotates into view just below the equator. From an entire lunar month condensed into 24...

To start the week, a few thoughts on the passing scene: ~So what else is going on? Oh, look... China's Chang'e-6 mission lander made a successful soft landing on the far side of the moon late Saturday and will soon begin collecting unique lunar samples. Has the moon signed up for Peking's Belt & Road Initiative yet? Give it another three months. ~Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth: Officials with the US Central Command first brought up the option of building a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza in late October, the senior administration official told CNN. The risks however...

China says its uncrewed craft has successfully landed on the far side of the Moon - an unexplored place almost no-one tries to go. The Chang'e 6 touched down in the South Pole-Aitken Basin at 06:23 Beijing time on Sunday morning (22:23 GMT Saturday), the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said. Launched on 3 May, the mission aims to collect precious rock and soil from this region for the first time in history. The probe could extract some of the Moon's oldest rocks from a huge crater on its South Pole.

Fly Me to the Moon is an upcoming American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Greg Berlanti and written by Rose Gilroy. The film stars Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Nick Dillenburg, Anna Garcia, Jim Rash, Noah Robbins, Colin Woodell, Christian Zuber, Donald Elise Watkins, Ray Romano, and Woody Harrelson. Its plot follows the relationship between a marketing specialist and a NASA director during the 1960s Space Race.

...Unlike most near-Earth asteroids, which are thought to hail from the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, asteroid 2016 HO3, also known as Kamo'oalewa, was likely blasted from the Giordano Bruno crater on the moon's far side and has been hurtling through space for several million years...Measuring between 150 and 190 feet in diameter, the asteroid is about half the size of the "London Eye" Ferris wheel...Previous research pointing to Kamo'oalewa likely originating from the moon included its reflectance spectrum, which is more compatible with lunar materials rather than the general population of near-Earth asteroids, and...

Scientists believe Kamo’oalewa will remain alongside Earth for millions of years. Could a near-Earth asteroid be a piece of the moon? Astronomers from the University of Arizona believe so. In a captivating cosmic discovery, scientists uncovered evidence suggesting that a near-Earth asteroid called Kamo’oalewa might be a fragment of the moon. The finding challenges previous assumptions about the origins of near-Earth asteroids and could have significant implications for our understanding of celestial bodies close to our planet.

Apparently Earth has at least one, and probably several "mini moons" that follow Earth's orbit around the sun, and most likely come from chunks of Earth's moon blasted out from collisions with meteors and asteroids. Interesting, didn't know anything about this.

A new study of metal ore deep inside the moon is offering fresh evidence that Earth's natural satellite was formed by an ancient planet crashing into Earth long ago. This long-theorized interplanetary collision — which scientists believe occurred some 4.5 billion years ago — saw a Mars-sized planet named 'Theia' slice itself into hot lava fragments upon impact with the Earth. While some of Theia's planetary remains appear to be buried as dense and massive 'blobs' deep underneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean's tectonic plates, scientists said evidence for where the rest of Theia went after this crash had remained...

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is being mocked for suggesting the far side of the moon is always “dark” and can’t explain why China is interested in exploring that part of the moon. “What do you think the Chinese are trying to get at, at the back side of the moon?” Rep. David Trone (D-MD) asked Nelson at a congressional hearing last week. “They are going to have a lander on the far side of the moon, which is the side which is always in dark. Uh, we’re not planning to go there,” he said.

Let us start by saying we expect different levels of expertise from different people. Like for instance, if we are talking to a layperson and they indicated they didn’t know the difference between a motion to dismiss and a motion for summary judgment, we wouldn’t bat an eyelash at it. That is a level of ignorance that is just normal and justifiable for people who don’t deal with the law very much. We wouldn’t make fun of a such person for not knowing that or look down on them: We would simply explain the difference. But if a person claims...

While Democrats and leftist alarmists decry conservatives for supposedly peddling "misinformation" about "the Science™" related to climate, COVID, and genders (there are two, FYI), their own Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas is out and about telling constituents some real whoppers about the solar eclipse.

Social media users trashed Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, after she turned her gaffe about the moon being "made of gases" into a slam of Republicans on social media Tuesday. Reacting to the backlash she received for telling school children that the moon is made of gases ahead of Monday’s eclipse, the lawmaker said that her Republican critics are hounding her because they have a "lust for stupidity." She gave a speech at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston on the day of the eclipse, telling an assembly of students, "Sometimes, you need to take the opportunity just to...

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee ( D-TX) once sat on the House Science Committee and the House Space Committee. But understanding astronomy seems to elude her. Jackson Lee attended an event at Booker T. Washington High School where the “Trust the Science” party member clearly does not understand the science. Jackson Lee explained to the crowd, “You have the energy of the moon at night.” What?